Philippe Montanier sets Saint-Étienne tone, talent 10 per cent, sweat 90 per cent | OneFootball

Philippe Montanier was appointed Saint-Étienne head coach on Sunday and will lean on the hard graft that has underpinned his four career promotions.

According to L'Équipe, he had already reviewed the Verts’ matches and was unimpressed. On Saturday they lost 0-1 at home to Boulogne-sur-Mer, the club where he began coaching from 2004 to 2009.

On Sunday morning the squad, used to tougher recovery work under Eirik Horneland, nicknamed Go-go, had only a brief introduction with their new manager. Montanier immediately set the tone, stressing that talent alone will not suffice and that success is 10 per cent talent and 90 per cent sweat.

Before any tactical tweaks, he wants to re-mobilise the entire group in a commando-style push. Some players have been going out at night and tensions surfaced between team-mates during the match, so he plans to set clear rules from Monday.

His framework centres on three words, rigour, discipline and humility, values he says he must quickly transmit to the dressing room.

Time is short. Saint-Étienne are fifth, seven points off first and four off second, the automatic promotion places, with 13 matches remaining, or 17 via the play-offs, to make up ground and hit the club’s pre-season target. The timing is tight but the task is not impossible.

Source: L'Équipe